Is The Tide Turning On Conan O’Brien?

May 6, 2010 2:17 AM PDT

Conan O’Brien road a wave of good will earlier this year as he was ousted from “The Tonight Show” helm, but the ride might be over, at least according to some media pundits.

The redheaded funnyman, who was finally able to break his silence on his departure from NBC – following a hefty pay off of $32 million – spoke out to “60 Minutes” in an interview that aired on Sunday, but the 15 minute piece may have turned the tide in some corners, against the star.

The Hollywood Reporter was one of several outlets that raised an eye over Conan’s interview, despite his protestations to “60 Minutes” correspondent Mike Kroft that he didn’t “get screwed” by NBC and that he’s “fine.”

“The O’Brien on display is clearly not ‘fine,’ but a deeply hurt individual licking his wounds for all to see,” THR writer Andrew Wallenstein wrote.

“Not since another silence-breaking media event – the Tiger Woods ‘press’ conference – has a public figure backfired so thoroughly in his attempt to try to put the best face on a bad situation (and Conan ain’t doing as badly as Tiger),” he added.

Wallenstein’s main critique was that during the “60 Minutes” interview, Conan “openly wallowed in misery at a time when he should have been turning the page,” thanks to his new deal and upcoming new late night show on TBS, set to premiere later this fall.

Elsewhere on the Web, over on PopEater, the “Girls on Pop,” posted a short blog and video rant under the headline “The Conan O’Brien Drama Needs to End, Please.”

The ladies wrote that “Conan has a new show (and $32 million to boot), and Leno is once again beating Letterman in the ratings. So why is this still a thing?”

Still at another outlet, Defamer, wrote a piece titled, “It’s Time for Conan to Move On.”

“Yeah, Conan, we get it. You got screwed out of a job. Now that your ill-advised interview on ‘60 Minutes’ is over, it’s time to lay that to rest before your fans begin to turn against you,” the Web site noted.

“His jokes are about to turn from ‘stick it to the man’ salvos of an underdog into the whiny musings of someone who is still upset that he got paid $32 million dollars to walk away from a job,” the article continued, referring to Conan’s recent cross country theatre trek, labeled the “Legally Prohibited from Being Funny On TV Tour.”

Conan still appears to be having millions of fans, who share their love of the star on Twitter. Conan even thanked them, having left a card of gratitude at Twitter Headquarters during a recent visit, which read. “Twitter – thanks for saving my a**. Your friend, Conan.”